“These are inconveniences that need not be dreaded here.”

“Our police are too strict.”

“And our young men too well-bred,” added Mrs. Wolston.

“Not only that,” continued Mr. Wolston, “this young student, who never thought of study, had a huge, shaggy Newfoundland dog, and the old lady possessed a chubby little pug, which she was intensely fond of; now, when these two brutes happened to meet on the stairs, the large one, by some accident or other, invariably sent the little one rolling head over heels to the bottom; and, much to the horror of the old lady, her favorite, that commenced its journey down stairs with four legs, had sometimes to make its way up again with three.”

“I always understood that dogs were generous animals, and would not take advantage of an animal weaker than themselves; our dogs would not have acted so.”

“Well, perhaps the dog was not quite so much to blame in these affairs as its master; besides, in making advances to its little friend, it might not have calculated its own force.”

“Yes, and perhaps might have been sorry afterwards for the mischief it had done.”

“Very likely; still the point was never clearly explained, and, whether or no, the elderly lady could not put up with this sort of thing any longer; she complained so often and so vigorously, that her troublesome neighbor was served in due form with a notice to quit.  The young scapegrace was determined to be revenged in some way on the party who was the cause of his being so summarily ejected from his quarters.  Now, right under his window there was a globe belonging to the old lady, well filled with good-sized gold fish.  His eye by chance having fallen upon this, and spying at the same time his fishing-rod in a corner, the coincidence of vision was fatal to the gold-fish; they were very soon hooked up, rolled in flour, fried, and gently let down again one by one into the globe.”

“I should like to have seen the old lady when she first became aware of this transformation!”

“Well, one of the fish had escaped, and was floating about, evidently lamenting the fate of its finny companions.”

“It was very cruel,” observed Mary.

“Elderly ladies who have no family and live alone are very apt to bestow upon animals the love and affection that is inherent in us all.”

“Which is very much to be deprecated.”

“Why so, Master Frank?”

“Are there not always plenty of poor and helpless human beings upon whom to bestow their love? are there not orphans and homeless creatures whom they might adopt?”

“There are; but it requires wealth for such benevolences, and the goddess Fortune is very capricious; whilst one must be very poor indeed that cannot spare a few crumbs of bread once a day.  Besides, admitting that this mania is blamable when carried to excess, still it must be respected, for it behoves us to reverence age even in its foibles.”